Houston Astros
The Houston Astros' early name was "Colt .45s", which refers to The Colt Arms' famous .45-caliber pistol, and the main colors of the team were set to navy blue and orange. The name of the arms not only commemorates this famous weapon, but also conforms to the image of Texans as free and fierce. However, Colt Arms opposed the team's sale of the .45 logo around, and in order to avoid legal disputes, the team needed to change its name, which was also the main reason for the team's name change.
Colt .45s period of the team logo Image source: eastcobbbaseball.com
The United States in the 1960s was a decade of rapid development of the space industry, and in 1961 Houston was designated by NASA as the city that trains astronauts, and under the influence of the space fever, the team management also hoped that the new team name would reflect a sense of futurism.
Image source: houstonchronicle.com
In 1965, the team name was changed to Astros in Houston — not only futuristic in the city's character, "Astros" means star in Greek, but also contains the history of the Lone Star in Texas. But the Navy Blue/Orange team color was retained and became the Houston Astros we know it today.
Image source: toddradom.com
Auckland athleticist
The origins of the Oakland athleticist's name can be traced back to Philadelphia in the nineteenth century, when there was a team called the "Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia" because its name was so long that people used to use the first word of its full name to shorten it to "Athletic", which later evolved into "Athletics" to refer to this team word of mouth, which we translate to call it "Athletic". 。
The evolution of the Auckland Athletics' logo Source: beisbolmlb.com
The original Philadelphia Athletics Baseball Club did not last long until 1901, when a new "Philadelphia Athletics baseball club" was formed, following the name "Athletics" as its name. He became a member of the American Baseball League and is the true predecessor of today's Oakland athletics.
图源：Heritage Sports Art
Then in the 1950s and 1960s, the team underwent two moves, from Philadelphia to Kansas City and then to Oakland, becoming the Oakland athleticist today, the team experienced different stadiums and cities and generations of players and fans, but only the most historic name remained – the athletics.
Seattle Mariners
Compared to other baseball teams, the Seattle Mariners are a relatively young team, and the team founded in 1977 also listened extensively to fans during the naming process. The team held a naming contest event, and the winner who was finally selected received was given two sets of season tickets and a free away series tour at an all-inclusive cost. The team initially selected more than 600 good names out of 15,000 submissions, of which the name "Mariners" was mentioned by many fans.
Source: Seattle Mariners Social Media
Considering that Seattle is born by the sea, the team management believes that the "Sailors" can best reflect the characteristics of the city. In the end, the team chose Roger Szmodis from Bellevue, Washington, as the winner of the naming contest, and the team liked his interpretation of the word Mariners: "I chose sailors because the ocean, Seattle, and her people have an inseparable natural connection, and the ocean brings challenges, and challenges bring rewards." ”
But Roger never showed up to receive the award, and the organizers of the Mariners' event wrote to him, visited his apartment, and contacted him with messages, but never heard from him. To this day, this mystery has not been solved. Around 2019, the Mariner's superintendent was still trying to complete this historic legacy project to find Roger's trail, but to no avail. Today, the Seattle Sailors' name is widely circulated, but it leaves a mystery and seemingly never-claimed season tickets and free road trips.
Texas Rangers
The Texas Rangers are another Texas baseball team in the American League West, formerly known as the Washington Senators in Washington, D.C., and after the team moved to Arlington, Texas in 1972, considering that Texas is not the political center, the name Senator does not have any meaning to the local, and the team decided to abandon the original name completely in the contradiction of respecting the team's history and integrating local culture. Switch to the "Texas Ranger" that highlights the local character.
The Texas Rangers, meaning the Texas Mounted Police Department, are Texas' well-known law enforcement agencies with statewide jurisdiction, founded in 1823 by Stephen F. Austin. Since its inception, it has investigated official corruption, solved murders, and played the role of police and detective to protect the safety of Texans. The name is also taken in the hope that the team can practice justice like the Mounted Police Department, and become a symbol of glory and glory in the hearts of Texans.
Image source: thebalancecareers.com
Los Angeles Angels
Los Angeles city name "Los Angeles" is Spanish, literally translated into English is "the Angels", meaning angel, so Los Angeles has the reputation of the City of Angels. The Los Angeles Angels team name also derives from this.
"City of Angels" Los Angeles Source: timeout.com
But the team also has a historical story after the name, and originally owned the Los Angeles Angels as a los Angeles-area minor league team (with more than 60 years of history, forced to relocate in 1957, and won 12 league championships), it has little connection with the Angels of the major leagues today.
After the first expansion of the major league in 1961, singer Gene Autry became the owner of the new team born in California, he was particularly eager and envious of the success of the once minor league team Los Angeles Angels in the Pacific Coast League, so he wanted to use this name in the major league team and pass it on! So Ottery bought the name "Los Angeles Angels" for $350,000, and the Angels as we know them were born.
Singer Gene Autry Image source: lonestarflight.org
In 1966, the los Angeles Angels' home stadium was moved from Los Angeles to Anaheim, and the team changed its name to the California Angels from 1965 onwards. For more localization, the name was changed to Anaheim Angels between 1997 and 2004.
In 2005, owner Arte Moreno wanted to return to the team's original name, but the lease agreement with the City of Anaheim at that time did not allow the revocation of "Anaheim" in the team name, so the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim" team was born, and in 2016, because the new lease agreement no longer restricted the team name, the Angels officially changed their name to Los Angeles Angels, and the return was successful.
Which team's name story is your favorite? Do you have any "naming stories" that you would like to share with you? Come and leave a message in the comments section!